#58. The Syncing Honeymoon Is Over

Frustration has returned to the Tool Bar & Grill. A few years ago, I didn’t think about how a USB flash drive could make my life easier. Now I can’t live without at least one. But each new solution brings still newer problems, especially for someone as lazy as your Tool Bar chef.

The new problem is synchronizing multiple computers through the flash drive. I have a PC in the office and one at home, and found the easiest way to keep folders and files up to date at both locations is by copying them to and from the flash disk. But not easy enough, of course. I went looking for a utility that would compare folders on the local hard disk and the flash disk, and automatically copy the newer files over. I found Allway Sync, as described in my post #27 (1 July 2007), and life was good. Until recently.

Allway Sync is free for personal use, but is restricted to 20,000 files per 30-day period. That’s a lot more files than I sync each month. But then Allway Sync warned me that I had exceeded the limit, because it counts all the folders and files it scans, not just the ones it copies. And a few days later, Allway Sync stopped working and suggested I buy the Pro version ($19.95 for one computer, $9.95 for an additional license).

I decided first to find and test some new freeware syncing utilities to see how they stack up against Allway Sync before plunking down my hard-earned money.

What I Want in a Sync Tool

At the least, a folder and file synchronization utility should work bidirectionally, but you would be surprised how many purported sync tools work in one direction only. It should allow you to maintain multiple pairs of folders for synchronizing. I immediately ruled out utilities that lack these features.

A good sync program should provide configurable rules to govern how it decides which files to copy where. It should support filtering, enabling you to specify file types to skip over (backup and temporary files, for example). It should display a preview of the file changes it plans before the actual operation, giving you a chance to change the default actions.

All synchronizers provide day-and-time or interval scheduling, either built-in or using the Windows task scheduler (but this is more suitable for backing up than for synchronizing). I’d like them to provide launch triggers beyond the typical such as launching when a USB flash disk is inserted or removed, or when files in the monitored folders are changed.

The table below shows the features of the sync utilities I tested that floated toward the top of my rankings.

Name	Rules	Filters	Preview	Launch on USB insert or removal	Launch on file change
Allway Sync 7	Y	Y	YY	Y	Y
Sync Expert 1.9	Y	Y	YY
SyncBack Free 3.2.10	Y	Y	Y
Microsoft SyncToy 2 β	Y	Y	Y
Flash Synchron RC 1				Y

A double Y means the preview shows the type and direction of the file operation; in other previews, you have to analyze the file time stamps yourself to puzzle out what is about to happen.

As you can see, none of the freeware sync tools I tested measures up to Allway Sync. Though some come close, all the others require some manual intervention to start their sync jobs.

Dear readers, I welcome you to send me your suggestions. Tell me about the free synchronization utilities you know and love, as well as share any other thoughts, by clicking on “comments” below or writing to me at jonathanstoolbar@gmail.com.

And now for something completely different… a special review of text-based Web browsers for speed demons, by my ever-slender friend Mark Lautman.

My Browser Is Lighter Than Yours

by Mark Lautman

I came across a web site that tells you what you may not want to know: your body mass index. The BMI is a measure of body fat based on your height and weight, and like tuberculosis, nobody is safe from it. I'm a thin guy, but my short height of 5'9" (1.75m) dooms me to a BMI of 24.8, which is just a breath away from being overweight. [My BMI shall remain classified. –JP]

Here in the Tool Bar's Linux Room we do our share to fight excess weight [unlike in main room –JP], and we start where it counts most: on the personal computer. First, go in front of the mirror with your computer and look at your Web browser. The installation kit for Firefox is 5.6 MB; for Internet Explorer, 14.7 MB. Who knows what else is installed on your machine when you start using these applications. They also have big problems with security, privacy, and generally reprehensible content.

That's where text-based browsers come in. These programs were used in the very early days of the Internet, and still are popular among those who have BMIs of 24.8.

The best text-browser I found was elinks (Linux). It supports many features of the mega-browsers, such as cookies, forms, searches, history, and launchers for external plug-ins, in a very small package. Because elinks doesn't display graphics, there is no need to render pages with particular dimensions and wrapping; this makes the response time amazingly fast.

Another popular text-based browser is Lynx (Windows, Linux). Here is what the Tool Bar and Grill page looks like in a Lynx text browser:

The indisputably smallest and securest browser is the Linux command wget. This retrieves a Web page and saves it as a file - no cookies, no history, no pop-ups. (A Windows version of wget also is available.)

wget is very useful if you want to download a series of Web pages in batch mode. For example, you could set up a batch file for 100 downloads from Project Gutenberg, and in the meantime you're in the weight room lowering your BMI.

Because text-based browsers retrieve only the text from a Web page and none of the media, you probably don't need that expensive Internet connection through cable or satellite. It's something to consider.

If you're interested in exploring other text-based browsers, see http://www.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Internet/Clients/WWW/Browsers/Text-Based/. If you're not interested in learning about such browsers, then you have time to get back on the exercise machine! –Mark Lautman